Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the supports available from her Department to community groups and organisations that have obtained staff through various social protection schemes but now want to retain these staff permanently given their important role in community development. [50097/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department of Rural and Community Development does not have a specific scheme for the retention of former Department of Social Protection (DSP) scheme participants following the termination of their work placements within local community based organisations and groups.

That said, my Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community organisations to provide employment opportunities and local services, through a social enterprise model.

Organisations are required to complete a Business Plan defining details on all aspects of their service or facility, governance arrangements, finances, social impact, performance indicators and outlining the specific number of staffing positions required for business needs accompanied with detailed job descriptions for same.

The CSP Programme provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each full-time equivalent position being supported and where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a Manager. The CSP contribution does not meet the full employment costs of the supported positions, rather it is a fixed annual contribution that must be co-funded by the organisation concerned from other sources such as from income received from the public for the use of their facilities and services.

In the context of CSP, supported positions are full-time, 39 hours per week, for a minimum of 4 days per week. However, under certain conditions roles may be split into part-time positions to meet business needs, which is agreed during the business planning process.

The programme provides employment for specific disadvantaged individuals and groups including Travellers, people with disabilities, stabilised and recovering drug mis-users, people with convictions who are in contact with the probation service. People employed under DSP Schemes are also deemed an eligible target group as set out in the CSP Operational Manual. However, they cannot simultaneously hold a CSP employment contract and a DSP supported scheme position.

CSP supported organisations are responsible for implementing an open and transparent recruitment process for all CSP supported positions.